The Last One

Cheers from the USA! I intended to write this post on Friday but alas….I had better ways to spend my last day in Ireland. My first day home has been fabulous (and exhausting) but I miss Dublin already. I’ve been harping on this point for a while now, but I truly want the people I’ve met this semester to realise what a wonderful four months they have given me. Dublin the city is no more special to me than my own hometown. I love it because I love the people I was there with. I will go back and I will absolutely see many friends again, but this particular chapter has ended and can’t be replicated.

To Margaret, Katie and Shannon, you were wonderful roommates and I loved coming home to such great people every day. Our apartment was probably biohazardous but I wouldn’t have it any other way (too many good laughs off it).

To Sadhbh and Chloё, I really could not have asked for better friends. I can’t imagine how completely boring the semester would have been without you gangster gaeilge girls. I’ll be seeing you stateside. Sadhbh, here’s hoping there are rickshaws in California (Chloё, here’s hoping there aren’t :P) I love you both and miss you already.

Part of me really wants to name every person off the Cumann Gaelach, SSP or just life in general who made this semester so special, but the list would be massive and I’d forget someone and then feel horrible about it so I’ll leave it at this: I love you and will miss you, and I thank you for the craic. If you’ve bothered to read this post then you are likely one of the people I’m talking about.

Le Ghrá,

Lauren

Reflections on the Craic

IMPORTANT: Sadhbh Ní Bhaoill is the baddest bitch around #northside

Hey lads. I hate to say it but I'm down to less than a week in Ireland so I think it's time for one of these... Below are my absolute favourite and fondest memories of the last four months.  

The Hot Spots

• The Bleeding Horse. Always a classic for Rathmines 11. There we became addicted to Bulmers, Margaret got a kiss off the barman for her 21^st, and Eliza treated to a round of chocolate cake shots (Probably the Best Shots on Earth). And of course, I met my first friend at Trinity. Looking back that bar was the beginning of everything that followed, and the beauty of beginnings is that you don’t know how they will end.
• The Seomra na Gaeilge. 20 cent tea and priceless conversation. Cheers to anyone who was kind enough to chat to the Meiricéanach (truly, it did mean a lot).
• The Pav. No better place for lunch with my girl Brenna! The chips are fab. Plus I had some great times prinking with my Irish lunatics there. Chloё, you get my bar glass (I can’t have you hiding out in the bushes with Dómhnall anymore!)
• Saint Stephen’s Green. I had some superb Little Ass burritos with Margaret in that park.
• Trinity Chaplaincy. Genuinely, I’ll miss free soup Tuesday.
• Mother Reilly’s (specifically, Tuesday night Quiz Craic). The best moments:
• When Katie knew that the bonus question was Shawshank Redemption on the first clue (“a movie from 1994”) Atta girl.
• That time I guessed that the Japanese word meaning “one who serves” is “samurai”. Proud moment for me.
• Shannon blurting out “Why is George Clooney so ATTRACTIVE?!” just as the pub went quiet.

….Three of the six places are bars. Sound.

The Everyday Things

• When things in our apartment didn’t work properly, became inexplicably broken, or simply failed at their existence. We can laugh now because it’s water under the bridge— instead of dirty shower water from upstairs leaking into our living room (btw that was the source of the month-long leak catastrophe. Score).  Latest update: oven door broke off last week.
• Walking into my bedroom whenever Shannon was Skyping her friends…I could make an “Overheard in Rathmines 11” devoted to these moments (but she’d probably knife me for it). I could also include anytime she asked a hypothetical question.
• Whenever Katie and I decided to communicate via the internet (while in the same room). Out of the sarcasm, a fabulous friendship was formed—btw Katie, I can alliterate too. Bite me. 
• Any and every time that Jen came to Rathmines to make dinner for us. Great food and great company.
• Boiling water for tea in cooking pots because we were too cheap to buy a kettle (that said, thanks for the coffee maker Katie!)
• When we acted like morons because we’re Americans. Examples that went down in infamy: we didn't know how to turn on the fridge, we thought the clothes horse was a cot, we lived in semi-darkness for a month because we didn't want to change the light bulb….I’ll leave it at that.

The Top Ten

• Leaving the city for the first time and swimming in Killiney Bay.
• “Moone’s shifting a dead bird”
• Fresher’s Week, especially the CG pub crawl and the Toasted Cheese concert.
• Halloweek in Dublin, epic.
• Paris (duh).
• The best Irish Thanksgiving there ever was or will be. 
• When my grandfather’s relatives got me locked in Killavullen last weekend.
• When the Rabbitts got me locked in Oranmore yesterday.
• “Crouching tiger hidden naggin”—the official slogan of every night out. We got that nifty little catchphrase when my landlord saw me buying naggins at Dunnes. Oh, memories.
• TBD (I’ve got a week left! This spot is saved)

Also Katie and I have recently been communicating in haiku instead of writing our final papers. If you don’t mind a bit of crude content find the thread on Facebook, it provides an epic summation of Dublin in poetic form.

Always,

Lauren

I did try not to duplicate pictures from earlier posts but no promises....an assortment of beauts from the semester. 

 

My Thanksgiving Leftovers are Gone :(

Happy Wednesday all. I just spent all day in the library and need a reprieve. Funny how my revived interest in blogging coincides so perfectly with the heap of assignments I have pending. For the moment Bernard MacLaverty can wait (Chaucer can definitely wait). My agenda for the night is to whip this baby out, make French toast and then enter a 48 hour state of quarantine in which I complete my Northern Irish Lit essay.  It's a bit ambitious considering I already made plans for tea tomorrow, but truly, that essay will be finito by Friday…I am determined. I’ll add that it’s not due until December 14^th, so I think I’m doing okay. I've been a bit sappy in my last couple posts and the last few ones are bound to be heavily sentimental. So tonight, I am going to whine.

Ireland, fix this please:

• The bus is kind of expensive. 1.90€ for one-way fare into town? Dublin, Lauren is not made of money and Rathmines is not that far away (clearly my walking days are over, thank you November…kidding, I haven’t walked to Trinity since September).
• Why are the baked beans in tomato sauce? Guys, molasses—you don’t know what you’re missing.
• Trinity Library, why you be trippin? No one is trying to steal your books, take it down a notch. Things I would appreciate: heat….I know you’re not poor, and I’m cold. Also, a friendlier attitude perhaps? Why so grouchy?
• Irony of ironies: I accumulated 5€ worth of overdue fees during “Reading Week”. SMH
• Eggs on the shelf. Huh? This one isn't really a complaint seeing as it hasn't killed me yet, it’s just weird.

That’s all I've got. Other than the aforementioned grievances I really like Ireland…I’d make a list but then this post would get mushy and I can’t have that. Plus, it’s French toast time. Excuse the brevity but it is finals season.

Besos,

Lauren

Below are random pictures from November, including a night out, the view from my balcony, an Ingrid Michaelson concert, and my recently-broken clothes horse. 

My Big Fat Irish Thanksgiving

 

Happy Thanksgiving! It’s been a bit strange spending the day solely in my apartment (instead of driving to Brighton, to Hyde Park, to Brighton again and back to Medfield haha). Only one dinner? Who ever heard of such a thing? Even stranger, I cooked a turkey! I’m twenty-one….I honestly think I’m too young for this responsibility. Figuring out how to work the baster was a LOLfest. But to give credit where it’s due, we did a fantastic job (and the turkey was BA). We managed pretty much every Thanksgiving staple: turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, apple and pumpkin pies (both homemade), and we even included some fancy carrots and asparagus. To boot there was also butternut squash pasta, corn, bread, wine, cheese and crackers, brownies, ice cream, toffee pops and some Reeses Cups (sent from Mom). And 18 cans of Bulmers ha. Not too shabby.

Although I would have loved to spend the day with my family at home, my Irish Thanksgiving had its own special kind of charm and was loads of fun. If nothing else, the company was a reminder of what I am most grateful for this season: the friends I've made in Ireland (Irish and American). I've been including a lot of lists in my recent posts, so here’s another:

What I’m Grateful for this Thanksgiving:

• The past three and half months, which have been wonderful. There are so many things I love about Ireland—Dublin, Trinity College, the Cumann Gaelach, my roommates, the pubs haha. My time here has been better than I’d hoped for.
• My Mom and Dad for letting me spend the past three and a half months here. And my sisters, just for being my sisters. And obviously Tinker because she is the best.
• My Irish Chickens. I couldn't be happier to share Thanksgiving with such great friends. I know Chloё reads this and I assume Sadhbh does, so to both of you, I will miss you terribly when I return home and I cannot wait to soak in the California sunshine with you next summer. Thank you for making this semester so much fun (go raibh maith agaibh…I had to look up how to make that plural, I’ll hope it’s right haha)
• That I get to go home to two cities and see people I love.

So there you have it folks, My Big Fat Irish Thanksgiving. Complete with feasting, two rounds of Alice's Restaurant (for a grand total of 46 minutes), and general hysteria (only the best kind). I was even able to stream the Thanksgiving special of Acoustic Sunrise live on Mix 104.1 (and for once the time difference was convenient). I did miss out on the football game but let’s be real, do I care? Haha no disrespect, but it’s not like I watch it at home either.

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving (and if you’re Irish, a Happy November 22^nd)

Lots of Love,

Lauren 

My Week in Paris

Bonjour mes amours. As most of you have heard or gleaned from Facebook, I recently spent a week in Paris. This was my one big trip outside of Ireland for the semester and I couldn’t have picked a better city. People give the French a hard time for snobbery, but I can’t blame them for high standards. After a few days, part of me wanted to be Parisian too. If you’re the sort of person who is easily charmed by pretty things (ahem, like me…) Paris is the place to be.  The architecture, the people and even the food are all gorgeous. Duck may be my new favourite meal (although escargot is also delicious!). After a week of chocolate croissants and French pastries for breakfast, it was somewhat disappointing to return to my regular buttered toast and tea in Rathmines. That said, there was one culinary fiasco during the trip—after reuniting at the airport, Olivia, Whitney and I made our way on the RER into the city and found our hotel. Unfortunately, by the time we settled in, every restaurant nearby was closed. Since I stupidly skipped lunch, the mints at the hotel weren’t going to cut it for me. And so, our first meal in Paris was at McDonald’s. The horror.

It’s impossible to cover Paris in a weekend, but we gave it a shot. From Thursday night to Monday morning we saw the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, the Palace of Versailles, Sacré Cœur, and the Louvre. We also made time for a night of clubbing at Le Duplex on the Champs-Élysées, and a morning of shopping in the Barrio Latino. Oh and thank you GW, we registered for our classes next semester.  Some highlights, stories and impressions:

• Late Thursday night we waited for traffic to slow at the top of the Champs-Élysées so we could bolt across the very large roundabout and see the Arc de Triomphe up close….only to be informed by security that it was past visiting hours. No problem, how should we get back? Same way we came of course.
• Champagne at the top of the Eiffel Tower, need I say more?
• The Palace of Versailles. While it was absolutely worth the visit, my final thought on leaving the “hunting lodge” was that I don’t blame the French for beheading the gluttons who lived there.
• A lovely Moroccan man at a souvenir shop in Montmartre gave me an Eiffel Tower key chain because he thought my eyes were pretty <3
• The Venus de Milo! To see the actual statue was almost surreal. Granted, I could say the same of nearly everything at the Louvre, but I was especially awestruck by Venus.  

For our last night together in Paris we stayed with my cousin Cecilia and her daughter Catalina. They were so warm and welcoming, and Catalina even played the harp for us. The next morning was bittersweet—we had a fun morning shopping in the Latin District but after such a wonderful weekend it was hard to say goodbye. I’ve been dreading leaving Ireland for weeks now, and while I still will be sad to leave, spending time with Liv and Whit was a reminder of how much I have to come back to in the States. A funny realization I have come to in Dublin is that while quality always trumps quantity where friendship is concerned, you feel their absence more strongly when you don’t have many friends around. I’ve been pretty lucky in Dublin to have great roommates and wonderful friends from Trinity, but company isn’t always just a text away. In that vein, it will be really nice to catch up with everyone at GW in January. Fortunately, I was quickly distracted from missing my friends by my Gamba family in Paris. I don’t know whether this is a big-family-phenomenon or something special to the Gambas, but the beautiful thing about their company is that you don’t need to have met them before to feel at home with them. I didn’t know Cecy or Monica before staying with them, yet meeting them felt more like a reunion than an introduction. One of my favourite parts of the trip was my insiders’ tour of central Paris by Monica and her lovely daughter Jade-- très charmant. Between my friends and my cousins, I couldn’t have asked for better company over the week. I hope to return to Paris, but for now I’m happy to be back in Dublin. Until next time, au revoir.

Avec l'amour,

Lauren

 

P.S. for anyone who knows French, sorry if I botched it...blame Google Translate lol. Also, enjoy the pictures below but there are many more on Facebook